Recognises that the Green Paper signals a new direction for children’s services, one which ADS has generally welcomed. The only sadness I have is that some children will be kept out of that framework if TOYs are kept separate – and I think that’s a battle worth continuing to fight. That throws a spotlight on other services, and the interface with the NHS and other bits of government. We should fight hard against the implicit assumption that adult services should simply be absorbed into the NHS.

I don’t think the NHS wants them. And I don’t think we’d be well served by such a move. So my strong recommendation to my own authority and others is that the future lies in a redefinition of social care in local government as a much broader concept linked to other bits of local government. But those services should not be viewed simply as part of supporting the acute sector. They should be associated with a vision of what the community should be like for older people.

Yes, the SSD is largely gone, or going. But there is still this issue of a statutory director of children’s services. His or her function should be able to be carried out by different people in different councils, according to what the authority feels is appropriate. The trust needs to focus on, and protect the interests of that subgroup because they tend to lose out in universal health or education services. We need to be careful about what is in the social care role that is actually being welcomed. View source : Valuations VIC

His vision for the presidential year reflects his own personal views as well as the issues that arise within his own department. Leicester is one of the most ethnically diverse and multicultural cities in the UK and he intends to concentrate on race equality issues, building on the work of the inclusivity group and other initiatives that ADDRESS has pioneered. I believe we should explore the idea of including into membership anyone who reports to the chief executive on social care matters. His non-professional passions include walking, and watching rather than playing – sport.